


Balls Are For Losers

by Awesome_Sauce432



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Regency, Beau is in a dress but she hates it and i'm lowkey upset at myself for writing her in one, F/F, First Meeting, Pre-Relationship, meet cute
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-08
Updated: 2019-07-08
Packaged: 2020-06-24 14:38:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,400
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19725685
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Awesome_Sauce432/pseuds/Awesome_Sauce432
Summary: Jester's always watched the balls from afar, wishing she could be among them. Beau, meanwhile, avoids balls as much as she can, and on the rare occasion her parents succeed in dragging her along to one, she tries to escape as quickly as she can. It's only a matter of time before one eventually runs into the other.





	Balls Are For Losers

The soft melody of violins filled the air, playing a song that had been perfectly chosen for the occasion. Laughter and chatter filtered through the ballroom, servants carrying platters stacked high with glasses of champagne ridiculously fancy and expensive things to eat. All manner of important people mingles and danced together, all soft, coy smiles and vague, flirty comments with a hundred million different meanings.

Jester would have loved to be among them, dancing the night away in a beautiful dress, or even just to stand with a few of the other girls and socialise. But despite the best balls in all of Nicodranas being held at her home multiple times a week, she was never able to attend. The rules of high society were strict and unyielding, and a daughter with no father or partner to present her was not welcome.

Instead, Jester contented herself with watching from the sidelines, sneaking behind curtains and hiding inside rooms where she could still hear the music, having a ball all on her own, dreaming of having someone to dance with. She twirled across the empty floor with her arms held out as if there was someone there, switching between leading and being led without a care, humming the music that she had long since memorised to herself.

And when she tired of that, she would return to her favourite hiding spot at the top of the stairs, where a curtain with a gap at the bottom stopped any but the most observant from seeing her, but which gave her a nearly uninterrupted view of the ballroom. It was there that she was now, watching couples glide gracefully across the dance floor while she laid on her stomach, her head resting in her hands.

She sighed dreamily, her legs kicking loosely behind her, her tail flicking back and forth. So enchanted by the scene was she that she failed to notice the sound of footsteps quickly approaching until they quite literally tripped over her with a frantically stifled yelp.

Jester scrambled up into a sitting position, her hands flying to her mouth. There was a surprisingly quiet thud as the person rolled into their landing, and Jester sat up to see a woman with a shocking scowl on her face, hiking up the hem of her dark blue dress to rip off her shoes. She had warm brown skin and thick brown hair that looked like it might have once been coiled up in a braided bun, but was now half undone, hanging down past her shoulders.

“Who are you?” Jester asked, shock quickly fading to curiosity. The girl's eyes flickered up to her before widening, as if suddenly realising she’d tripped over a _person_ and not just her dress.

“Who are _you_?” She asked, both her shoes now in hand and looking around in search for other people. “What are you doing up here?”

“I’m Jester. I live here.” Jester said, shifting into a more polite sitting position and smiling brightly.

“I’m Beau.” After a moment’s hesitation, she took Jester’s offered hand and shook it, quickly drawing back. “Why aren’t you down there?”

“I’m not allowed.” Jester shrugged, before lowering her voice. “My dad isn’t married to my Mama, you know?”

There was a brief look of understanding before Beau nodded, glancing once again in the direction of the ballroom, but Jester continued talking. “Why are you up here? You’re allowed down there, aren’t you?”

“I don’t want to be.” Beau scoffed, standing up and tucking her shoes underneath one arm, using the other to pull the skirt of her dress up a few inches. “It’s a _nightmare_.”

“What? No way! They always look so fun!” Jester jumped to her feet, barely remembering to keep her voice down, confident the music would mask it well enough. “There’s dancing, and nice food, and people to talk to-”

“And judge you, and make fun of you behind your back, and expect you to be happy wearing a stupid, itchy _dress_ , and dance the most boring dances in the world over and over and never tell anyone what you _really_ think.” Beau’s voice was snappy, and Jester hesitated, wringing her hands together.

“It’s not… that bad, is it?” She asked.

Beau looked at her for a long moment, her face softening ever so slightly before she huffed and looked away. “I mean, _some_ people enjoy it, I’m sure. But not me.”

“Is that why you’re up here? You’re trying to get away?” Jester stepped forward, more curious than ever. Beau nodded, a sly smirk beginning to grow on her face.

“Say, you wouldn’t happen to know where anything cool is in this place, would you? Seeing as you live here and everything.”

Jester folded her arms and thought hard, trying to think of the best place to show Beau. There was her bedroom, or the study where she liked to read, or the kitchens or… An idea popped into her head and she grinned.

“I know a place! It’s secret, too.” She winked, grabbing Beau’s wrist and starting to pull her along, leaving the ballroom behind. The music followed them for a while before that too faded, as they went deeper into the manor.

They came to a stop near the back of the manor, in front of a bookcase. Jester immediately began rummaging through the books, while Beau looked around expectantly, her hands on her hips.

“This is just a hallway.” She said, a frown on her face that morphed into confusing when Jester just grinned back at her.

Ah! There was the book she was looking for. Casting another wink at Beau, Jester pulled on it, immediately stepping back as a series of clicks and creaks began to emanate from the bookcase. There was a sharp inhale next to her, followed by a quiet ‘Woah’ as a secret passageway appeared before them.

Once again, Jester took Beau’s hand, blood rushing to her cheeks as she walked into the passageway. “Quick, it’s only open for a few seconds.”

“Damn. I wish my house had something like that.” Beau said, her eyes wide with wonder as the brightly lit hallway was replaced by dim candlelight.

They squeezed through the passageway, Jester never letting go of Beau’s hand, but eventually they found their way to what Jester had been looking for. It was a small room, barely ten feet wide at any point, but it was decorated with rugs and cushions, the faint remnants of incense and perfume filling the air, and candles held in stained glass containers casting multicoloured light on the walls.

“This is so cool.” Beau looked around, picking up books and some of Jester’s old sketchbooks, which she kept here for safekeeping. “What do you do down here?”

“Lots of things!” Jester spun around before settling down on one of the cushions, silently admiring the way the blue and purple light from some of the candles fell on Beau’s face. “I like to draw, and think of pranks, and have sleepovers in here.”

She didn’t mention that they were usually sleepovers in which she was both the host and only guest, but Beau seemed impressed regardless, picking a cushion and sitting down. “I wouldn’t mind staying here the whole night.”

“You could! I don’t mind, these balls usually go on forever.” Jester’s heart leapt, though at what, she wasn’t sure.

Beau scoffed, casting a easy grin at Jester. “Don’t I know it. If I’d known something like this was here, I would have given in to my parents ages ago. They’ve been wanting me to come to one of these for years.”

“Why didn’t you?”

“Because I hate everything about these stupid balls.” Beau paused, before looking back at Jester. “But if I’d known someone like you were here to make it interesting…”

Jester hadn’t known her cheeks could get so hot so quickly, Beau’s face turning slightly red and both of them quickly looking away, stifling giggles behind hands or otherwise pretending it hadn’t happened.

“I mean, you could always come back.” Jester said slowly, hesitantly, shuffling a little closer to Beau until they were nearly shoulder to shoulder. “We have them all the time.”

“Yeah. Maybe I will.” Beau said, shifting her arm out ever so slightly so that it bumped into Jester’s. “I bet they’d be a lot more fun with someone to sneak away from them with.”

**Author's Note:**

> okay i could honestly probably write more for this AU but... (eyeing my long list of WIPs and ideas) im pretty sure i'll die before i run out of beaujester AUs to write 
> 
> also everything i know of the regency era i gathered from half-watching the pride and prejudice movie three years ago
> 
> anyway this was part of a one hour beaujester challenge on one of my discord servers so thats why it's short who knows i might revisit it someday


End file.
